A woman from Cornwall has been fined after being caught on camera kicking a dog who was nursing her newborn puppies.
Sharon Jeannine Gladwell of Mount Pleasant, Hayle, Penwith, in Cornwall, appeared at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (18 June) to be sentenced after pleading guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
She was fined £733, ordered to pay £400 in costs and a £293 victim surcharge.
The RSPCA launched an investigation after a member of the public reported Gladwell – an breeder of Australian shepherd dogs – to the animal welfare charity for kicking and hitting a dog who was temporarily in her care to give birth to puppies.
Trust was purchased as a puppy from Gladwell in 2018 on the agreement that when the bitch was three she’d be returned to the breeder, in Penwith, to have a litter of puppies.
In May 2021, Trust was put to stud and her owner returned her to Gladwell’s home to give birth in July, alongside another dog who was also due to have puppies.
The witness said, in her statement: “[Gladwell] had two whelping rooms set up, one in the front bedroom which was where Trust was, and one in a room off the toilet. She told me that the cameras in her whelping rooms had stopped working and asked me to try to fix them for her. I ended up getting them to work and downloaded an app onto my phone so I could see them as well. Sharon knew this.
“I stayed whilst Trust had her puppies. She had eight puppies in total.”
Following an argument between the two women, the woman left but when Gladwell wouldn’t return her messages, she decided, the following day (31 July 2021), to check on Trust and the puppies via the app – which Gladwell knew she had access to.
“I saw Sharon enter the room where Trust was with the puppies,” she said in her statement. “She placed a bowl in the whelping box and I saw Trust cower away. This wasn’t at all like her and it concerned me.
“At 17.58… I saw her get into the whelping box with Trust and the puppies. I was watching it live as it happened. Sharon straightened out the bedding and then kicked Trust hard in the chest with her right foot. She then leant over her and Trust [didn’t] move.
“She then hits Trust to the face causing her head to move backwards. She then continues to lean over her before hitting her again to the face. She then picks her up by the scruff and the fur on her rump, and holds her off the floor for around eight seconds before throwing her to the back of the whelping pen.”
A vet who viewed the footage said Trust would have suffered physical pain as a result of the incident, as well as ‘emotional stress’. In a statement to the court, the vet added: “It is my opinion that the person in this video has behaved appallingly with a total disregard for the welfare of both the bitch and her pups.”
One puppy died from suspected leptospirosis but the others were all sold and Trust was returned to her owner.
The witness added: “Sharon told me that Trust had been kept inside the house but she stank and her stomach was covered in dirt which took me about a week to get off. She had also lost weight.”
When reports were made to the RSPCA in July 2023, officers launched an investigation, and visited Gladwell in November 2023. The witness said she didn’t report it earlier because she was worried about repercussions.
